Falling to Pieces
by WatchMist1412
Summary: The first time he saw her she was lying in the cold forest ground, heavily injured with no indication of who she was and where she came from. Natsu certainly did not know his life would change from that moment on. More than he could ever imagine.
1. Chapter 1

The first time Natsu saw her she was lying bloodied and unconscious on the ground and he didn't know who or what did it.

* * *

Natsu was going for his usual morning stroll around the edge of the forest. Not too far away from his house but not too deep in the dark woods either. He wouldn't go inside the forest on his own, he wasn't that stupid -even if his friends suggested otherwise. In fact, Natsu was pretty careful when it came to the forest. It was very dangerous to go alone without backup or the appropriate equipment.

The forest was pretty much a mystery to the citizens of Magnolia. It was said that mythical creatures run around at night that wanted to eat your soul and leave you for dead. Creatures that made you lose your way, making you run around in circles until you were tired enough for them to attack. They said that if you stayed long enough you could see glowing gold eyes watching you from the dark shadows and following your every move. Natsu didn't believe any of these stuff. They were just stories to scare the children away from playing in the forest. Though he could admit, it did give out a pretty ominous vibe.

They were just myths but the forest wasn't any less dangerous. You could very well get lost without the help of a mythical creature and the animals that lived in its darkest corners were as lethal as any legend suggested. The town of Magnolia was already in a position surrounded by mountains where the light of the sun didn't reach it for many hours of the day and combined with the thickness of the trees it was dark even in the middle of the day. Hell, even Natsu who knew the forest more than anyone else could get lost and hurt there if he wasn't careful. That's why he always took his friends with him to form a small hunt party.

The others didn't favor going to the forest but they didn't have many other choices if they didn't want to starve. With Magnolia being a pretty far away town they were in need of fresh meat to feed the population and fur to make warm clothes and blankets for the cold, harsh winters that awaited them. It was just their luck that the closest and best hunting area in the perimeter was that particular forest.

Natsu loved the forest. He loved every little dark part and dangerous corner of it. The idea of exploring all that territory excited him to no ends and every time he looked forward for their next expedition to it. It gave him a thrill that nothing else could come close to. However, their little missions had to be cut short with winter fast approaching. Magnolia was all set for the difficult months to come and they had more than enough supplies.

Natsu would miss the forest. He always does during that time. So he reserves to taking walks on the edge of it. His house was close to the forest anyway so it wasn't much of a problem. His friends had many times tried to make him leave his little hut and come to the town, which resided a little further away from the forest, but Natsu wouldn't change his mind. He loved his little house too much to get away from it. Besides, he had Happy to keep him company.

Other hunters would take a dog as a hunting companion but Natsu had Happy. Happy, the hunting cat. He had first found Happy as a small kitten mewing and scratching his wooden door in the middle of the night. He seemed so cold and scared that the hunter couldn't help but take him in for the night. In the end, Natsu got so attached to the small bundle of fluff that he couldn't separate himself from it. So Happy stayed and became a permanent feature of Natsu's daily life. The cat occasionally helped him with sniffing out birds so Natsu could strike them down. He didn't take Happy too far on the forest though, that was too risky. But the two of them took strolls on the edge of the forest playing around.

It was in one of those strolls that Natsu found the girl. It was Happy who found her actually. They were walking around in the usual route when Happy stopped in his tracks and started mewing to get Natsu's attention. When Natsu didn't listen Happy proceeded to lightly bite his leg and point his little head to a general direction in the woods. Natsu swore the cat was too smart for its own good.

Natsu grumping went to that direction expecting to see a small rabbit or something of that sorts so he was definitely surprised to see a naked girl lying behind some bushes. Her light skin was covered in bruises and blood and her right hand was outstretched as if she was trying to crawl out of the woods. Natsu had immediately ran and dropped to her side checking for a pulse and he was incredibly relieved to find one even if it was faint. He took out his wool coat and wrapped it around the girl before carefully picking her up trying not to touch the gaping would on the side of her stomach. He then ran as fast as he could without risking hurting her.

Apparently, the wounds were worse than they looked and Natsu had to carefully clean them from all the dirt as not to get infected and then apply a healing balm and wrap them around with bandages so that the wound could close off. He even had to put some stitches to a gash on her knee. In his day as a hunter he had to patch himself up multiple times so fortunately he knew what to do. He had considered calling the healer of the town to help him up but Natsu didn't want to leave the girl alone as she had to be treated immediately. How would he explain a bleeding strange girl on his arms anyway?

In the end he was pretty satisfied with his work as he laid the now clean and clothed girl to his bed. He had tried to get the leaves and dirt out of her hair and body, and he had searched the house for any of his old clothes that could fit her. The strange girl hadn't woken up completely while Natsu was treating her. He tried to be as gentle as possible with her wounds but he could still see her squirm around in pain and wince as he cleaned them. She had opened her eyes once or twice during the process but only for an instant before she fell back into oblivion. At some point Natsu realized she was burning up with a strong fever and he had ran around putting wet towels on her forehead trying to ease up her pain.

Now after hours of taking care of her Natsu sat hunched in his wooden chair staring at the girl in front of him. Her fever seemed to have eased up and her temperature had dropped to more normal levels. Natsu could finally sit down and relax a little. This was the most stressed he'd ever been. He had had to take care of himself before when he was sick or wounded but that didn't even reach the stress of having to take care of another living person. Natsu definitely did not recommend the experience. But he didn't regret it. He could never abandon her like that.

He was still feeling pretty tired though. Natsu let himself doze off, the familiar snap of the wood in the fireplace calming him down. Before he could manage to snatch a few minutes of sleep he heard the characteristic squeaking of the wood in his bed when someone was moving in it. His eyes snapped open as he came face to face with a pair of wide chocolate brown eyes.

The girl surprised tried to move as far away as possible from him ending up with her back pressed to the wooden wall in a defensive position. It was an understandable reaction to waking up in a foreign environment but if she kept moving around like that her wounds will open up. And was she… growling at him?

"Hey, hey, it's okay!" Natsu tried to calm her down. "I'm not gonna hurt you, you're safe now." He brought his arms up in a surrendering position. Apparently the girl did not like that and she snapped back at him wincing in the process. And she just discovered her wounds.

The girl touched the material of her clothes carefully and lifted her shirt up to see her bandaged waist. A smudge of pinkish red was appearing in the bandages right above her wound. Natsu winced at the sight. And he had just changed them! The girl observed her side for a few seconds before looking up to Natsu with a questioning stare.

"Ah, I put those on you. And the clothes. You were pretty hurt when I found you so I took you to my house. Do you feel better now?"

The girl continued to stare at him silently.

"I'm Natsu by the way! And you are?" he tried to break the silence extending his arm to her for a handshake. The girl stared at his open hand for a few seconds before turning her gaze to his eyes again. Natsu awkwardly retreated his hand and used it to scratch the back of his head "It's okay you don't have to tell me." He grinned reassuringly "I have to change those bandages now, you don't want to sit in your own blood." He joked

Natsu tried moving closer to her but the girl pressed herself to the wall hugging her side tightly with her arm.

"It's okay, don't worry." Natsu speaked soothingly as if talking to a scared animal "I'm not going to hurt you I just want to help."

The girl slowly and reluctantly pulled her hand away and let him come closer and take off the bloodied piece of cloth. Natsu could feel her staring at him as he moved to clean the wound and wrap it in fresh bandages.

"There we're all done!"

The girl patted her side carefully and satisfied with the result retracted back to her corner. Natsu moved away to give her more space and watched her from afar as she tried to keep her eyes open but failing. Eventually she gave in and fell into the land of dreams. The hunter careful as not to wake her up covered her with another blanket and moved to his couch too tired to pick a blanket for himself. As he was drifting away he felt the familiar weight of Happy hopping to his belly and settling there.

This was certainly a very strange day.

* * *

For the next two days there wasn't much progress.

The girl slept for most of the day and only woke up to eat and for Natsu to change her bandages. She didn't trust him yet though, Natsu could feel it. She let him take care of her but when she was awake her gaze constantly followed him ready to bolt away from him if he tried anything. It wasn't like she could get far if she run away anyway and she knew that. That's why she stayed on a stranger's house like that.

Natsu was glad to see she was gradually getting better! She had raised a really bad fever on the second day and Natsu stayed by her side the whole time trying to cool her off with a cloth dipped in cold water. On the third day her fever was beginning to fade away and she was able to stay awake for more than an hour without dozing off.

Now that she didn't seem like she was going to pass out at any given moment Natsu was determined to talk to her.

"Sooo…" he started off awkwardly sitting in the wooden chair in front of his bed. The girl's eyes snapped back to his own and stared at him expectantly. He did not think this through enough… Well it wasn't like he was very fond of overthinking stuff. "Can you understand me? If you can, just nod." He had come to the conclusion that she either didn't want to talk to him or she simply could not talk. That wouldn't make things very easy for him…

The girl continued to stare at him with a blank expression not moving at all from her spot on the corner of the mattress. Then there was the third option that she did not understand a thing he was saying and he had just been talking by himself like an idiot all this time. Natsu really hoped it wasn't the latter.

After a few painful seconds the girl finally raised her head and nodded carefully. Natsu sighed in relief.

"Okay, that's good to know!" a grin found its way back to his face. "I'm guessing you can't talk, am I right?"

A nod again, this time more firmly.

"It's alright, we'll work things out!" he said reassuringly "So now- HAPPY NO!" Natsu interrupted his sentence as Happy jumped to the bed right into the girl's lap. That demon cat! "I'm so sorry, I'll take him away! Happy get off right now, she's hurt!" of course the damn cat wouldn't listen. Instead he rubbed his head to the woman's arm and settled down on her lap.

Natsu was ready to take him by force but before he could try the girl brought up her hands and slowly but carefully begun stroking him. Happy purred in delight to the motion and moved around finding a more comfortable position. A tiny, warm smile begun forming into the girl's face and her eyes noticeably softened. That took Natsu by surprise. She was definitely more relaxed than before. What do you know, the cat actually helped!

"That's Happy, my cat." He brought her attention back to him "He's usually not that fond of strangers." Natsu shot a quick glare at the feline and he could swear the cat was smirking at him! "If he's hurting you feel free to throw him out of the bed, he won't mind."

The girl's eye stayed on him for a few more seconds before turning her attention back to the cat who was feeling quite impatient to be petted again. Before long the smile appeared on her face once again. Natsu decided he wanted to see more of it.

* * *

"So I was thinking," Natsu started as he rested his hands on the back of his chair, leaning slightly forwards so that he could take a better look at the new resident of his bed. The girl in question looked up from playing with Happy and stared at him questioning with her big brown eyes. She and the cat had been getting along since she first met Happy and Natsu was glad to see her preoccupied with something. She wasn't as tense as she was when she first woke up to his house and she even seemed to be getting a little more used to the environment!

"I still don't know your name!" this had been bugging him for quite some time actually "I mean, you've been here for more than a week and I can't keep calling you 'girl'. Do you have a name? Wait, stupid question." He stopped himself before the girl could react "You can't even tell me that…"

Natsu squinted his eyes in thought. What could he do about that? "Hey, how about I give you a name?" he said excitedly.

The girl titled her head in confusion.

"It's simple, I'm going to tell you names and you're gonna tell me which one you like better! Well, not actually tell me but you get my point. So let's try this! How about Sue?"

The girl furrowed her eyebrows before shaking her head in response.

"Yeah you don't look like a Sue… What about Jane?"

She immediately shaked her head in disagreement.

"Hey, that's a good name! I know someone named Jane. Wait, no you're right. The Jane I know is a grumpy old hag. What a waste for the name. Luigi?"

Now the girl was looking at him with disgust.

"Okay, okay, I'm joking!" So this wasn't as simple as he first imagined. Then it came to him "Lucy! Your name is Lucy!"

At that the girl brightened up and she finally nodded in approval.

"You like it!" Oh, that's good he didn't know how many more names he could think of. The girl- no, Lucy- smiled at him.

"Well it's very nice to meet you Lucy!"

* * *

After a week and a half of Lucy resting and healing Natsu decided it was time to do something about the situation.

"So how are you feeling now?" he asked after changing her bandages to clean ones. The gash seemed to be healing with no infection" Is anything hurting?"

Lucy shaked her head vigorously and made a move to get out of the bed to show she was alright. That didn't go very far when her eyes widened and she curled back to the bed hugging her side. Natsu rushed to her and quickly checked the bandages. There wasn't any blood in them.

"Don't do that again, you'll reopen your wounds!" he scolded her. "You should stay in bed, you don't have to stress yourself."

Lucy pouting shuffled back into the corner of the bed which had become her favorite spot.

"You know, maybe I should call a doctor too see you. I think I have patched up the worse parts but I don't want you to be hurt over something I overlooked. So what do you say, can you stay here alone while I go on the town?"

He did not expect the girl to shake her head so vigorously at that. She didn't need his care as much as before and it wasn't like she was that fond of him to miss him in the few hours he would be gone.

"Why not? Don't worry, the doctor won't hurt you."

Lucy shaked her head once again and extended her hand to grab the end of Natsu's sleeve. He certainly did not expect that. Natsu tensed up but didn't move to push her away. In all the times he was sitting beside her, taking care of her wounds and talking to her, Lucy did not once reach out to him on her own. She always seemed so scared and warry. Natsu couldn't help but feel a little happy at the motion.

He looked at her wide pleading eyes again and sighed. "Fine, I'm not going anywhere! If you get sick again I want you to know it's your fault."

* * *

"Here you go, your dinner!" he placed a tray in front of her and Lucy started to dig in excitedly.

In the full month that had passed since he had found her half-dead on the forest Lucy was slowly but gradually warming up to him. She was smiling more often and she seemed more comfortable with the environment. Her injury was much better too. Once she was able to move without being hit by a wave of pain she started going around the hut and exploring her surroundings. Natsu had no problem with that as long as she didn't overstress herself. She seemed to be having fun after all. Opening drawers and examining every little thing with childish curiosity.

He never learned how she got her injuries. Who or what attacked her or why she was lying naked in the edge of the forest. He never asked. Even if he did he doubted he would get any answers. It wasn't like he hadn't thought about them though.

Natsu had never brought up the topic of her staying there. He didn't feel like he had too. In the first weeks Lucy was too tired and weak to even sit up. Now that she was moving around Natsu thought over her presence in the house and how long it would last. He didn't like thinking about it.

He had come to enjoy her odd company. Even if she didn't say much Natsu was talking enough for the both of them. He told her stories every day about his friends and his past. He liked making her laugh with his crazy stories. Her laugh was one of the most beautiful things he had ever heard. Natsu felt comfortable around her. Like an old friend he knew from ages ago. He liked to think Lucy felt the same way.

* * *

The first time it snowed the temperature dropped to alarmingly low levels. It was fine during the day where they were both moving around and the sun was still up but everything was different when the night came. Natsu felt like the fireplace didn't do anything and he had used most of his blankets to cover up Lucy.

Natsu didn't mind the cold as much. He had an unusually high temperature so he didn't get cold as easily. Lucy, on the other hand was a different case. He could hear her shivering from across the room and she was curled into a small ball to keep herself warm. Natsu didn't know what else to do, he had already given her all of his blankets. So he did the first thing that came on his mind, not giving it any thought and following his instinct. He was too sleepy to think at the moment.

Natsu climbed into the bed and under the layers of covers. He hesitantly scooted over to Lucy and closed her in his arms careful not to startle her. After a few seconds he felt her breathing ease up and she unconsciously moved closer to his embrace.

In the morning she didn't say anything when she woke up curled up in his arms.

The next night they ended up bundled up together once again.

When the worst of the cold eased up they never stopped.

* * *

"Wow! There was a heavy snowfall this year!" Natsu exclaimed as he stepped out of the house and looked around. Since the blizzard of the previous days ended they were finally able to get out of the house. Natsu had to dig through the pile of snow that had gathered in his door first.

The whole area was covered in a thick layer of white fluffy snow. The trees looked almost white with some green leaves poking out and his rooftop was completely covered. He would have to clean that up later, he thought with dismay.

"Come on out Luce, it's alright now!"

As the girl shyly peeked out of the door and stepped outside Natsu couldn't suppress a snort. She looked like a snowman! Judging that her wounds were healed and that she wouldn't bleed out in any given moment Natsu had allowed her to go walk a little outside. However she didn't escape from the layers and layers of clothes and coats Natsu had made her wear. He didn't want her getting sick again after all.

But now that he saw her in the light of day Natsu realized he may have gone a little too far. The girl looked twice her size and she was floating in Natsu's old and much larger clothes. Only her eyes and nose were peeking through her fluffy headwear and the buttoned up coat. She did look adorable in those.

"You look ridiculous!" Natsu laughed and moved to fix the headwear that was beginning to fall in her eyes. With a second thought he unwrapped his favourite white scarf from around his neck and wrapped it around Lucy's. Now she looked even cuter with only her wide chocolate eyes peeking out silently pouting at him.

"Come on, don't look like that!" he took her gloved hand in his own "We can walk around a little, see if the blizzard made any damages. Tell me if you want to get back."

Fortunately there wasn't anything major. To Natsu's delight the snow hadn't broken in the wood keeping area and ruin it. The wood was meant to last him the whole winter he couldn't end up without any in the middle of the season.

When they entered the smaller hut Natsu used to keep his wood and supplies he noticed Lucy looking around the place with an uneasy expression. He followed her gaze and landed on his hunting equipment. He wasn't going to be using them for the winter so he had stored his bow, arrows and spears on the little hut.

"They're my hunting equipment." He explained breaking Lucy's concentration to the weapons "I'm a hunter actually, I don't know if I told you." he scratched the back of his head as Lucy kept staring at him intensely. "I'm not hunting right now of course! But I will have to soon if I don't want us to starve." He grinned.

Lucy slowly nodded to show that she was listening. She seemed to be deep in thought.

"Come on, don't worry about it! I still can't go out before the snow melts a little!" he didn't know what got her scowling like that. She was generally in a good mood since they woke up.

As they were walking back to the house Natsu fell a little behind purposely and picked up a small amount of snow. Lucy didn't notice him as she focused on the path in front of her, occasionally sparing glances at the woods in front of them. Perfect!

The snowball landed straight on her shoulder. Natsu was very proud of his aim as he tried to avoid her hurt side and throw the snow lightly as not to hurt her. Lucy turned back to look at him her arms raised up and her brown eyes wide open.

"Gotchya!" he grinned.

He would have been happier for his accomplishment if Lucy didn't begin to tear up. Natsu completely panicked.

"OH NO! I didn't mean to hurt you, did I hurt you? Did I hit your wound, are you okay?"

Trying to reach Lucy and getting lost in his worries Natsu missed the snow coming straight to his face and it hit spot on. How did it manage to get in his mouth? He wiped out the snow from his eyes and looked at the culprit. Lucy was wearing an ear splitting grin and her whole face was shining with joy. Natsu didn't think he had seen her that happy before. It was something he'd have to keep.

"Oh, now I'm coming for you!" Natsu shaked off any excess snow and moved towards the blonde. Lucy turned to run away, the smile never leaving her face.

Unfortunately, a particular tree had other plans for him since he stumbled to its roots and a pile of snow showered from above throwing him into the ground. What a way to make a comeback…

* * *

The first time she left Natsu panicked to no ends.

He woke up in a morning with an empty spot beside him in their now shared bed. That wasn't anything unusual. Lucy woke up many times before him and went to eat or play with Happy. It wasn't anything out of the ordinary.

But when he didn't find her inside the house he began panicking. He went outside and shouted her name for hours digging through the snow, searching every corner of the nearby perimeter. He even went to the town and searched desperately for her.

When the night fell he admitted defeat and went back to his house. He couldn't search anymore in the dark, he would have to continue the next day. He wasn't giving up on her, she hadn't left for good! She hadn't abandoned him without any notice. A traitorous voice in the back of his head was whispering that she had left as mysteriously as she appeared.

When the next morning came, he woke up with a knock on his door and found Lucy completely unharmed, save for a few stains of mud, he almost broke into tears. Well his eyes did water a little but no one saw that so it doesn't count! He immediately enveloped Lucy in a hug and brought her inside.

"Please don't do this again!" he said when they were both safe inside the house "I was so worried!"

Lucy looked at him apologetically and reached inside her coat. Natsu was incredible surprised when she pulled out a white rabbit and offered it to him with a smile.

"For me?"

Lucy nodded happily

"You caught it yourself?"

Another nod.

"Ah, um… thanks!" he really didn't know what to say to that. "You don't really have to though, we have enough food…"

Lucy placed the dead rabbit in his hands and nudged him.

"Alright, I guess we're having rabbit for dinner!"

Lucy's smile grew even brighter as she stood up and walked to the bed covering herself up with the blankets. She seemed very pleased with her accomplishment.

Natsu looked at the animal again in confusion. What the hell just happened?

* * *

Apparently this became an often occurrence. Lucy would go missing without a notice and then come back with a wild animal or nothing at times. She could end up leaving for days and then stay for weeks or leave and come back at the same day. But she came back. She always came back.

The biggest absence was one week. Natsu did not know what she did for that time but Lucy came home looking dejected and threw herself in his arms. It wasn't like he could ask what happened. This was only adding to the big mystery that was Lucy.

Natsu realized he knew almost nothing about her. He didn't know her real name or where she was from. He had tried asking her about nearby towns and villages but she only ended up shaking her head in denial. He didn't know how she ended up on the woods near his house or what hurt her so much. He didn't know if she had any friends or family waiting for her.

But he knew that her hair sparkled in the sun turning to a brilliant gold color. He knew that sometimes her brown eyes flashed a beautiful shade of yellow when she was happy or mad. He knew that she didn't like going too close to the fireplace but could be sitting silently for hours watching it. He knew that she loved books and stories. Natsu went to the town's library borrowing piles of books that he read to her in the night. He knew that she loved the yogurt from the town and he always brought it to her after a visit. He knew that she liked cuddling under the warm blankets in the night.

He knew that she was Lucy, _his_ Lucy, and that was enough.

* * *

The last time it happened it didn't feel any different than any other day. Natsu wasn't able to get much sleep the night before. The wolves were restless that night and their howls echoed through the night more than usual. It must have been the full moon. Lucy seemed calm on his arms but Natsu could feel her stiffening at each howl and he was tightening his grip to her trying to make her feel safe.

When he didn't find her on the house he didn't worry. When two days had passed and she didn't show up he didn't panic. He didn't have to. She would come back, she always does. When she wasn't here by a week a little worry started to kick in. By two weeks he was again in the woods trying to find her. By the fourth week of her absence he felt something die within him.

He didn't give up, he never would. How could he forget her when he was lying on the bed they shared or stared at the tower of unread books in the corner. How could he forget when her smell still lingered all over the place. Happy missed her too. He could hear him mewing in sadness as he longed for the petting person that wasn't there.

He never gave up hope. He was sure one day he'll wake up and find her smiling with one of her breath taking smiles.

He never did.

* * *

"Don't space out flame brain. Did the fire finally burn your brain?"

"I'm not spacing out ice princess!" Natsu shot back. Well he was actually lost in thought a little. Looking for a familiar bundle of gold. But he wouldn't admit that. He didn't really want to tell them about Lucy. It was a part that he wanted to keep all to himself. Not that they would believe him anyway…

"Yeah well, if you get lost when not focusing I'm not going to come rescue you."

"I won't! Besides if you lose another layer of clothing you'll end up naked and defenseless again, you stripper."

"Damn it not again!" Gray started looking around for his missing clothing but it was a lost cause.

"You're both idiots." Observed the third member of the group "We're not going home without food today so get moving."

"Wow someone's got out on the wrong side of the bed…"

"What did you say?" Gajeel glared at Gray

"Shh- shut up guys! I can see a pack of wolves. They're close." Natsu whispered.

They both immediately sobered up and drew out their weapons.

"Now of all days!" cursed Gajeel.

"Okay we can go around them avoiding a fight." Gray planned.

The other two nodded. The begun moving slowly and careful as not to make any noise and Natsu was sure they have avoided them. But when was luck ever on their side?

"DUCK!"

Natsu didn't know who shouted. He blindly obeyed his friend's orders and threw himself to the ground right before a big scarlet brown wolf jumped above them and landed a few meters away.

Instinct immediately kicked in as Natsu drew his bow and aimed at the wolf. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the others doing the same.

"Okay, keep calm!" shouted Gray as they faced the wolf who was now growling at them. "It's just one of them, we can take that."

At his words two other wolves jumped in and joint the other. Brilliant!

"You were saying popsicle?"

Before Gray could say anything the first wolf attacked them and landed on top of Gajeel. The man put up his spear for protection and battle against dominance with the animal. Natsu and Gray moved to help with but they were soon attacked but the other dark brown wolf that had just arrived. Natsu kept an eye for the gold one but it seemed to be standing there unsure of what to do, glancing back and forth between its companions and Natsu. Then it suddenly bolted running away from the scene.

"NATSU CHASE IT, IT'S GONNA GET BACKUP!" Gray shouted at him "WE GOT THIS, GO!"

Natsu didn't have to be told a second time. He sprinted after the wolf and took out a newly sharpened arrow from his quiver. He couldn't hope to catch the beast with running but he could sure injure it. He stopped briefly and aimed the arrow. He felt the world stop around him for a moment before he fired his shot. He saw the wolf fall to the ground and he grinned. Bingo! He had originally aimed to wound it but it seemed like the arrow had gone close to its heart.

Natsu was about to go back to help his friends but then it happened. Gold light surrounded the fallen wolf and Natsu's breath caught up in his throat. His heart skipped a bit and he felt like he was going to throw up in any second. It couldn't be… no… It was just his mind playing games.

Natsu sprinted to the fallen wolf. Only it wasn't a wolf anymore. A naked girl was lying on its place. A girl with familiar pale skin and shiny blond hair. A girl he was looking for desperately. And a girl with a gaping wound on her chest.

"NO!" Natsu cried out as he felt the ground fall beneath his feet and he was suddenly on his knees, cradling Lucy close against him.

"No… no, no, no, no! This can't be happening this isn't REAL!"

Natsu could hear his voice breaking and he felt tears stinging the edge of his eyes. Regaining some of his rational thinking he placed his ear on top of her heart and listened desperately for a heartbeat. He almost didn't hear it over the sound of his own racing heart but it was there. It was very faint but it was still there.

"Lucy please wake up! Lu-Lucy! Don't do this- don't do this to me!" By now the tears were freely flowing on Natsu's cheeks and he struggled to breathe through his sobs.

"No, no, no I did this. I did this to you! Why, Lucy?"

Natsu brought up his right arm in front of him and with firm movements ripped off the end up his sleeve. He then pressed it in her back where she was shot and carefully broke the edge of the arrow not deepening the wound in the process.

"Please." He whispered as he closed his eyes, his hand still pressing the injury "Please wake up."

He felt movement beneath him and his eyes shot open to see Lucy's eyes fluttering open as she tried to focus on something.

"LUCY!" Natsu cried out in joy "Thank God, oh thank you!" He took off his winter coat and wrapped it around her body as he kept pressing the cloth to stop the bleeding. It didn't seem to be doing much though…

Lucy tried to lift her hand up to him and Natsu firmly caught it in his own.

"Don't worry Luce, you're gonna be okay." He smiled reassuringly to calm her down. It was partially to calm himself down. They were going to be okay.

He quickly picked up the girl and rose up. "Hold on, I'm gonna take you home." A tiny smile appeared on the girls face as she snuggled closer to him with any last strength she had gathered.

He started running to the edge of the forest passing Gray and Gajeel without sparing a glance at them. He heard Gray calling out for him but he didn't stop, he didn't turn around. He just ran.

"You're gonna be okay!" he repeated. "Everything's gonna be fine." He could see his house in the distance! They could make it!

"Hold on Lucy! We're almost here, we're-"

He happily turned to the woman in his arms to see that her breathing was getting ragged. She battled to keep her eyes open but she was drifting away.

"NO, LUCY! Lucy you have to stay awake, we're almost home! Don't close your eyes, stay with me! Just stay with me!"

A single tear fell from her closed eyelids and slid down her cold cheek.

Natsu couldn't see the rise and fall of her chest anymore. The line from the stray tear was still visible on her cheek.

"Lucy?" he asked hesitantly "Lucy don't play games. Please wake up." He could feel his voice trembling "Lucy we're almost here. We're almost home. Lucy? Lucy please don't do this!" he cradled her head close to him.

"LUCY!"

* * *

The last time Natsu saw her she was lying bloodied and limp on his arms and it was his fault.

* * *

 **Hi everyone! I hope you enjoyed me and ruby's new collab fic! This was written for the nalu fluff week day 7 Fairy tales/mythology. We did throw a little angst in there but we hope you liked how it turned out! Tell us what you thought of the one shot, we look forward to reading you reviews!**

 **The story was based from the song "She Wolf (Falling to Pieces)" by David Guetta ft. SiA. Check it out it's a really cool song!**

 **Also you can find us on tumblr, our blogs are** **watchmist1412. tumblr. com and bloodredruby. tumblr. com**

 **Edit: We now have an amazing cover drawn by ruby!**


	2. Epilogue

"Uncle Natsu, Uncle Natsu!"

Natsu could barely brace himself before two blue blurs sped through the open, wooden door and collided with him in full force. He stumbled a little to the back, the extra weight throwing him off, but he managed to stabilize himself before he and his passengers fell to the ground.

"Uncle Natsu I missed you so much!" the boy tightened his arms around the older man's neck.

"Me too! I missed you lots!" his sister was quick to add, spreading her arms wide making a point to emphasize her words.

"Wow, be careful! I'm happy to see you too!" Natsu said laughing pulling the girl back to him so she won't fall and hugging them both tight.

"Kids don't do that, you're bothering Uncle Natsu." A blue haired woman scolded them softy, having just arrived at the house. She entered the room with a tall, brooding man trailing behind her.

"It's fine Levy! Don't worry about it. They're not bothering me."

"Kids, you have my permission to bother him as much as you want." The dark haired man whispered to them.

"GAJEEL!"

"What?" he said innocently.

"Don't bother Levy. I already know he's a jerk." Natsu said gently placing the two kids to the ground who run off to greet the small cat curled in a corner.

"Natsu! Not in front of the kids!"

"Why? What did I do?"

Levy sighed and rubbed her eyes in frustration "You know what, forget it. I can't deal with both of you right now." She walked to the twins, crouching to be in their eye level, and opened her arms wide to envelop both of them in a big hug.

"Be nice to Uncle Natsu, now will you? Mommy's gonna come get you in a few hours." She smiled softly and placed a soft kiss in the top of each of their heads.

"Buy mom!" Yajeh jumped right back to his mother's arms hugging her tightly. "I'll miss you."

"Hey, don't get her all to yourself!" Shutora said as she pushed her brother away and tried to squeeze into the hug.

"Wow, there you're gonna push me over. Shutora, don't push your brother away I am enough for both of you."

Levy spared a glance to the other two occupants of the house who in the meantime had been standing side by side and trying to elbow each other discreetly. "And please don't end up like those two." She murmured to herself in a second thought.

"Come on let's get going." Levy motioned to her husband as she stood up "You don't want to keep Gray waiting."

"A little waiting won't hurt him." Grumbled Gajeel

"Wait, where's Haku? Wasn't Gray supposed to bring him too?" Asked Natsu.

"Nah, he's sick. That boy is too frail for his own good. Juvia stayed home to look after him." Gajeel responded.

"Hmm… maybe I should pass by and give them a visit later." Natsu pondered.

"That's a great idea!" Levy exclaimed smiling at him "I'm sure he'll appreciate the visit. He was pretty sad he couldn't come by." She turned to look at her husband who had strayed a bit further back with the kids "Gajeel, are you coming?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming." He ruffled the twin's hair in affection and walked off towards the wooden door "See you later kiddos."

Natsu and the kids stood by the entrance for a few seconds waving goodbye at the leaving couple before Natsu ushered them into the considerably warmer house. Once inside the kids run straight up to the fireplace making themselves comfortable in the bundle of pillows and blankets that laid around.

They both turned to Natsu to look at him with sparkly, pleading eyes. "Tell us a story!"

Natsu laughed goodheartedly. They were too cute for their own good. "Alright, alright" He said as he plopped down in front of the kids and sat with his feet crossed over. "You win. What story do you want to hear?"

"Yay!" Shutora broke into a wide smile that reminded Natsu of her father. Well, of the rare times her father would smile like that.

"Oh, I know!" exclaimed Yajeh "Tell us about the hunter and the wolf!"

"Yes! That's my favourite!" Shutora nodded excitedly in agreement.

"Aren't you guys bored of that story already?"

"Noo!" They screamed in unison.

"Okay, then here we go."

Natsu watched as Shutora propelled herself forward to be able to hear better and Yajeh pulled the by standing Happy into his lap. He took a big breath and started, the crackling of the firewood accompanying his voice.

"Once upon a time, in a faraway land there lived-"

"Wait!"

"What is it?" Natsu looked at Shutora surprised

"You said the story was about our forest not a faraway land." She observed.

"Oh, okay then. So, once upon a time, in the forest of Magnolia, there lived a hunter with his red cat-"

"No!" Yajeh cut him off this time.

"What? What is it now?" Natsu was beginning to feel a little irritated.

"The cat was blue last time."

"Well, it seems like you know the story well enough and I don't have to tell it anymore!" Natsu begun to sit up before two pairs of arms grabbed his sleeves in despair.

"No wait, we're sorry!"

"We won't do it again, please tell us the story!"

One look into those innocent pleading eyes and he found himself beside the campfire again. He was only messing with them anyways. Children were so gullible, he liked to lightly mess with them.

"No interruptions this time please! Ahem. Once upon a time, in the forest of Magnolia, there lived a hunter and his blue cat companion.

The hunter lived close to the forest. Not deep into the woods but away from the center of the town. But this was no ordinary forest! Legend tells that there are man eating beasts in that forest! Creatures that lure you further and further away, making you go in circles until you're tired enough to not put up a fight. Wolves that can take a human form and lure you away and rip you apart if you wandered in the depths of the forest.

The forest was a dangerous place. Nothing that came out of it would mean any good. But there's another side to that story that no one else knows…

It started on a sunny day at the start of winter-"

And Natsu went on. Telling the story as best as he could, watching the kids smile, laugh and sympathize with the characters of the story. He watched them as they stared right into him with wide eyes, mesmerized by the tale. Then before he realized it, he had reached the final chapter of the story.

"The hunter aimed his arrow at the fleeting wolf and fired. He watched proudly as the arrow pierced right through its skin and the wolf collapsed in the ground after taking a few steps forward, still trying to run away. But the hunter's triumph didn't last long. At that point something unimaginable happened.

As the hunter went to look at the fallen wolf he found it no longer laid at the ground. In its place lied a beautiful woman, her long golden locks sprayed around her. The hunter immediately sprinted to her side and cradled her in his arms crying tears of regret. He felt relief wash over him when he found she still alive and breathing. But not for long. He knew he had to get help immediately. He tried getting her to his house but before they could arrive to safety she fell limp into his arms."

Natsu stopped for a second and looked at his audience. They were both leaning slightly forward their arms clasped tightly together, eager to hear the ending of the story. They looked so young and small. They waited in excitement for him to finish their favourite story. Finish it the way he always did. Natsu took a big breath and continued. Not yet.

"The hunter cried. He wept holding the woman close to him begging for her to come back. His tears were flowing like a river, falling into the woman's still face.

And the forest heard his cries. It felt his pain and love for the woman. Legend said the forest was cold and unforgiving. It wasn't like that. It was harsh only to the one's that wanted to hurt its residents. The forest only wants to protect its creatures from the destruction humans bring with them everywhere they go.

But when the forest saw the human clutching one of the forest's children so lovingly, it sensed something different in him. So it decided to make an exception.

It decided to show itself to the human. Something that was never done before. So the spirit of the forest took upon the form of a young girl with long light blond hair and vibrant green eyes and appeared in front of the hunter.

'Why are you crying?' She asked him.

The hunter looked up to her, surprised by her sudden appearance and held the woman closer to his body.

'Don't worry. I won't hurt you" the girl's eerie voice ringed through the forest like a lullaby. It sounded like leaves rustling from the wind, birds singing their songs.

'I can help.' She continued "I can bring her back… but there is a cost.'

The hunter looked at the girl with pleading eyes 'Please! Please help her. I'll… I'll do whatever you want.'

The girl smiled cryptically at him and crouching down to the fallen woman she placed a kiss on her forehead.

A soft light enveloped the woman and the hunter looked at it in awe. Then the woman's eyes flattered and she cautiously sat up. The hunter turned to look at the little girl to thank her but she was no longer there.

But an unspoken deal still stood by. The hunter could only meet his loved one when the moon had come to a full circle. The rest of the days she has to stay in the forest besides the spirit. So he left the woman to the forest with a heavy heart, but happy to still be able to see her smile. And from then on every full moon the woman would visit the hunter and the lovers would finally be reunited. And they lived happily ever after. The end."

Natsu looked at the twins who were resting their heads on top of each other, trying- and mostly failing- to keep their eyes open.

He smiled softly "Don't fall asleep when you begged me for a story you little rascals."

He gently picked both of them up and placed them in top of his bed covering them up with a wool blanket. Not even before he had finished tucking them in, they had already fallen to the land of dreams.

* * *

"Thanks again for watching over them!"

"Nah, it was no problem. You know I like playing with them!"

"Oh I brought what you asked for" Levy handed him a small ceramic cup.

"Thanks, I owe you one! I didn't have time to go to the city myself today."

"I didn't know you liked yogurt" she observed.

"Well I guess tastes change like that." He grinned

"Anyway we have to go now, it's already pretty late… Come on kids!"

"Bye uncle Natsu!" the twins run up to him enveloping the man in and left with their mother.

Nash closed the door behind them and eyed the cup in his hand.

"Well, I guess it's about time for a visit."

He put on his coat grabbed the cup and opened the door once again.

"Come on Happy! We're good to see Lucy! You missed her didn't you?" He said smiling at the cat.

Happy mewed in agreement.

"That's what I thought. Let's go before it's too dark outside."

Natsu and his feline companion walked a few meters away from their house into the outskirts of the forest stopping in a small clearance just before the woods thickened.

"There we go! Sorry we didn't visit sooner." He said plopping down in the ground. "Oh! Almost forgot." He said placing the small cup in the ground "I brought you're your favourite desert! I have no idea how you tolerate that thing.

"Shutora and Yajeh visited!" he said after a few seconds of silence. They're such a delight! I wish you could meet them. They would really like you, I'm sure of it. I told them our story again. It's their favourite one so far… One day I'm gonna tell them the original version."

Natsu placed his hand on top of the cold hard stone and looked sadly at the words craved in messy handwriting.

 _Lucy_

"Wish our story had a happy ending..."

* * *

 **Hello again guys! We hope you enjoy this little bonus (sort of like an epilogue) story! We weren't originally planning on continuing the one-shot but I think this addition is fitting! I hope you liked it too :)**

 **(Haku is the name Ruby came up for the Gruvia son Mashima drew)**

 **However this isn't the last you've seen from this AU! There might be something more coming up in the farther away future, if you're interested, so be in the lookout for that if you liked the story.**

 **Thank you for reading, we'd love to hear your thoughts about it!**


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